Dr Sarah Gordon

Supervisor Details

Contact Details

School of Health Sciences, University of Birmingham

Scientific Background

Research Interests

Dr Sarah Gordon is a pharmacist and pharmaceutical scientist who is interested in applying formulation approaches to overcome common and significant challenges to effective drug delivery. She has expertise in the formulation of nanoparticulate drug delivery systems for a wide variety of applications – currently her focus is on the utility of nanocarriers for anti-infective delivery as a means to overcome drug solubility issues, facilitate co-delivery of multiple actives or improve access of drugs to their bacterial targets. She firmly believes that informed formulation design has an important role to play in the fight against antimicrobial resistance.

Scientific Inspiration

Siouxsie Wiles - her passion for doing great science and communicating this to the general public in an accessible way is something to aspire to. She's also a great ambassador for New Zealand!

Research Groups

School of Pharmacy

Supervision Style

In three words or phrases: Adaptable based on student need, supportive, collaborative.

Provision of Training

Hands-on technical training will be provided by myself, members of my group or collaborators, as appropriate to give you the best training for your needs. Over time the expectation would be that you would become increasingly independent in the lab as well as in terms of designing experiments and discovering/developing methods, however with support and training always available if/when needed - training needs will be a standing discussion point within our regular meetings.

Progression Monitoring and Management

Initially we’ll meet on a weekly basis to discuss progress in terms of method/experimental development, data collection and analysis, as well as any issues or challenges, and to agree together on targets for the next week. I also think it’s important and helpful to set longer term goals together within these meetings to help us keep your project on track. We can meet on a more regular basis if needed, and can reduce the frequency of meetings if required as you progress in your project – I like for us to figure out together what particular monitoring and management style works best for you, and to adapt this accordingly as your project progresses to help you thrive and achieve your potential.

Communication

I think that open, clear communication is incredibly important to achieving satisfaction and success in a PhD. In addition to our regular meetings I am contactable by email and via Teams, and am also happy for you to stop by my office! While I am of course here to support and advise on your project work, I am also more than willing to discuss and provide support on any issues impacting on progress or wellbeing. Establishing (and maintaining!) a healthy work-life balance is incredibly important, and as such I don’t expect anyone to respond to communications outside normal/core working hours.

Meetings

PhD Students can expect scheduled meetings with me at least once per month. These meetings will be face-to-face. I am usually contactable for an instant response 3 or 4 days per week.

Work Patterns

The timing of work in my lab is completely flexible, and (other than attending pre-arranged meetings), I expect students to manage their own time.

Notice Period for Feedback

I need at least 1 week's notice to provide feedback on written work of up to 5,000 words.

MIBTP Project Details

Primary supervisor for:

Lipid-based nanocarriers as a strategy to improve delivery and enhance the efficacy of anti-infective compounds

See the PhD Opportunities section to see if this project is currently open for applications via MIBTP.

Please Note: The main page lists projects via BBSRC Research Theme(s) quoted and then relevant Topic(s).

Lipid-based nanocarriers as a strategy to improve delivery and enhance the efficacy of anti-infective compounds

Secondary Supervisor(s): Prof Tim Overton

University of Registration: University of Birmingham

BBSRC Research Themes:

Understanding the Rules of Life (Microbiology)

Project Outline

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) constitutes a major threat to public health worldwide. Bacteria employ numerous strategies to resist the action of antibiotics, including forming a sticky, glue-like protective matrix called biofilm.[1] Nanosized particles consisting of lipid bilayers, called liposomes, as well as lipid-coated nanoparticles, offer a solution to such delivery difficulties. These multi-compartment structures are capable of (co-)encapsulating and effectively delivering a range of anti-infective compounds to their bacterial target sites.[2, 3]

This project will explore the ability of lipid-based nanocarriers to improve anti-infective delivery and efficacy within range of different bacterial species in free-floating and biofilm form. The potential for synergistic antibacterial activity resulting from nanocarrier-mediated co-delivery of two anti-infective compounds will also be investigated.

Lipid-based nanocarriers loaded with anti-infectives will be produced using techniques such as microfluidic mixing, and characterised by dynamic light scattering and high-performance liquid chromatography. Microbiological testing of loaded nanocarriers will include minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) testing to determine antibacterial efficacy, flow cytometry, and advanced microscopic imaging modalities to visualise nanocarrier-bacteria interactions.

The interdisciplinary project will be supervised by Dr Sarah Gordon (School of Pharmacy), an experienced formulation scientist in the use of lipid-based nanocarriers for anti-infective delivery, and Prof Tim Overton (School of Chemical Engineering), an expert on microbial physiology and antimicrobial resistance.

References

[1] Whittle et al., mBio, 2024, 15: e0237024

[2] Carini et al., Pharmaceutics, 2026, 18:13

[3] Menina et al., Adv. Healthc. Mater., 2019, 8: e1900564